WHEREAS, The current USPS descends from the postal system
that Benjamin Franklin placed in operation; and
WHEREAS, The Articles of Confederation gave the United States
government the power to establish and regulate post offices; and
WHEREAS, These powers were preserved in Article I, Section 8,
Clause 7 of the Constitution of the United States, which gives
the Congress of the United States the power to establish post
offices and roads; and
WHEREAS, On February 20, 1792, President George Washington
signed into law the Postal Service Act, which established the
Post Office Department; and
WHEREAS, Early Federal laws concerning post offices
prioritized the security, privacy and timely delivery of mail
and furthered the freedom of the press by ensuring that
newspapers could be mailed at low postage rates; and
WHEREAS, The Postal Reorganization Act of 1970 transformed
the Post Office Department into the United States Postal
Service, and provided for many changes to the postal system; and
WHEREAS, The first section of the Postal Reorganization Act
states in part that, "The United States Postal Service shall be
operated as a basic and fundamental service provided to the
people by the Government of the United States, authorized by the
Constitution, created by act of Congress, and supported by the
people"; and
WHEREAS, The postal service has served and continues to serve
a critical role in the development of the United States,
providing for communication, commerce and information sharing
between people in distant parts of the United States; and
WHEREAS, This critical role and the importance of mail is
perhaps best exemplified by an inscription on the former
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